Rating: 
Summary: At last
Review: I have long stared covetously at the enormous volumes of Borges Collected Fiction that have adorned the bookshelves of the Spanish speakers I have met while I turned again and again to the slim volumes that had been available in English prior to this edition. The translation does seem a bit weak in points, however, the appearance of Borges in any form is cause for intense celebration. He is truly one of the greatest writers I've ever encountered. Along with Joyce, Musil and Gaddis he is among the most innovative and generous writers of this century. Giving him only Five Stars seems to somehow undermine his genius.
Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: It is undeniable that as an artist and a writer, JL Borges left an indelible mark through his work. Yet what can be said about him as a person rather than an artist would give rise to sharp contrasts. He is quoted as having made extremly racist, slanderous and derogatory remarks. He has said that modern day black education is a mistake, since, according to him, blacks are a violent and opressed race and educating them would only serve to make them more so once they learn about their slave heritage. He was also, at many times, sympathetic and supportive of the Argentinean and Chilean dictatorial regimes. I am aware that as readers, we must not let this interfere with our own appreciation of his literary work. The Swedish Academy has at many times disregarded many authors whose work is certainly meritory of a prize. But even though I feel little sympathy for the Academy, it is my impression that, at the time, their continuous abnegation to prize Borges' work was not as unjustified as some may see it.
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Summary: The "royal" swedish "academy" members can't read
Review: Borges is undoubtedly one of the greatest writers of our century. The fact that he was ignored by the academy (it doesn't deserve capital letters) can be explained only by the political influences that it suffered, choosing mainly left-wing authors. Borges was very critical to communism, in the same way that he was critical to racism, populism or extreme nationalism. In fact, he opposed all forms of irrational and extreme thoughts. The academy, in the biggest example of its mediocrity, never forgave him for this. Borges work, in contrast, will remain as one of the most brilliant literary expressions of mankind.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant writing badly translated
Review: As is so often the case, there is good news and there is bad news. The good news is obvious: all of Borges' fiction collected into one beautiful volume. These short stories, parables, and other writings explore the nature of literature, identity, and existence itself in a style that is simultaneously mundane and fantastic. The bad news is the extent to which that style is buried in the new translation. I have read many pieces by Borges translated by many different translators, and all shared a common, instantly identifiable voice that transcended the translation. Hurley's translations are in every case inferior. They are overly wordy and do not capture the dry, succint language that somehow heightens the imaginative power of the stories. One must still give this book a high rating, as these are very important pieces of fiction, and their ideas still shine through, but a better translation would have guaranteed five stars. My recommendation: if you have not yet read any Borges, start with one of the other, smaller volumes (e.g., Fictions, Labyrinths). If you are fond of his writing already and want to have it all in one volume, glance through this book in a bookstore and see for yourself whether you can live with this translation.
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Summary: The most important writer of short stories this century
Review: A treasure trove of one of the world's finest authors. The translation is admirable, better than most other Borges additions. I got mine for Christmas and have been reevaluating my love for Borges and my perception of reality with each new story.
Rating:
Summary: Good start, but incomplete, translations lacking
Review: First off, let me say that anyone collecting and disseminating Borges' works is doing no disservice. The translation is extremely competent, but I would tend to stay with Irby and Yates' somewhat more readable translation (Labyrinths). Their work is not as 'complete,' but the wording of the earlier translation is somewhat better. As far as the question of 'complete,' Hurley leaves out several of Borges' short stories from _Sur_ (The South). On the other hand, it's the closest thing to an _Obras Completas_ (Complete Works) those of us who are not fluent in Spanish have. It is very usefull in the footnotes that explain elements otherwise lost to the non-Argentine (and scrupulously literate) reader. I would certainly reccomend it to the Borges enthusiast, but might encourage a newcomer to read Labyrinths first (it's a good deal cheaper).
Rating:
Summary: An excellent first-ever compedium of all of Borges' work.
Review: I discovered Jorge Luis Borges, not through some literature class, or from other post-modern writers. Instead I discovered his work through science fiction.His weird worlds often have, inadvertently, a science fiction flavor, and it is several of his stories that have appeared in science fiction story anthologies that I first learned about this most unusual writer. I was disappointed to see just how scattershot his work was, however, until the publication of this latest and complete translation. They are all here--the stories that introduced me to his work..."The Library of Babel" "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbius Teritus" and others. And many stories I had never heard of...or ever seen more than a mention of. It's a hefty volume, but if you like writers like Umberto Eco, or simply want doses of something other than our mundane banal reality, Borges' work, sadly and idiotically ignored for a Nobel prize, is worth a try. And this volume, the complete and definitive collection of his stories, is the one and only book you need purchase.
Rating: 
Summary: Praise for COLLECTED FICTIONS
Review: PRAISE FROM SOME OF THE WORLD'S MOST CELEBRATED WRITERS FOR ANDREW HURLEY'S TRANSLATION OF THE COLLECTED FICTIONS: "What are we to make of him? The economy of his prose, the tact of his imagery, the courage of his thoughts are there to be admired and emulated. In resounding the note of the marvelous last struck in English by Wells and Chesterton, in permitting infinity to enter and distort his imagination-- John Updike "Borges is no longer a writer but a tradition. His descendants are vital in a myriad of tongues -- Gabriel Garcia Marquez and John Barth, Danilo Kis and Salman Rushdie. For decades, his fiction in English was less a unity than a multiplicity --Ilan Stavans "Though so different in style, two writers have offered us an image for the next millenium: Joyce and Borges. The first designed with words what the second designed with ideas: the original, the one and only World Wide Web. The Real Thing. The rest will remain simply virtual." ---- Mario Vargas Llosa END
Rating: 
Summary: And yet more elitist filth in print
Review: I was recommended Borges' works by one of his innumerable over-educated sycophants and I will never forget the tremendous time I wasted attempting to grasp the supposed value of his life's work (when I should have been writing my dissertation). Each time I read one of his pedantic, mediocre peices of short fiction, I was convinced by these elite book review troglodytes that I would like other examples of his work if I continued reading since "all of his stories are so unique." I found the exact opposite to be true. One story after another about mazes, mirrors, mystical mathematical formulas and books, books, books. The ideas were transperant, the language boring in the extreme. His poetry is trite. Who needs this? Borges reads like a petulant graduate student at University of Chicago who failed repeatedly to get his/her short fiction published in _The Atlantic Monthly_. Particularly among academics, literary elites and like people, many seem to cite Borges and worship his genius more than read him--and certaintly _no one_ reads him critically. I read most of his work, and I can tell you, outside of a few interesting turns of phrase, you'd be better off reading a Yale dissertation on the semiotics of self-superiority. People incessantly talk about how imaginative Borges is. The vast majority of popular SF and fantasy writers are more imaginative. Even many of the despicable magical realist "geniuses" make Borges look rather plain. Borges merely litters his works with elite literary references and a kind of faculty cocktail party wit to make it more palatable to the kind of people who never step foot out of Manhattan or Cambridge. If you're this kind of pompous fellow, you'll want to sleep every night with a portrait of Luis by your side and a series of mirrors, as it were, slowly attempting to seek some kind of trans-substantiation with this benighted old librarian. If you're the kind of person who prefers reading about interesting characters, enjoying nuanced use of language, and grasping subtle, daring ideas that transcend purile academic banter, run far, far away from Jorge Luis Borges. Even top authors from all over the world and every historical period get bad reviews. The adulation of Borges merely underlines the fact that this is more about a cult of personality among (those who think themselves) intellectual elites than a serious attempt to evaluate his fiction. I think his fiction is better considered a kind of academic experiment, relegated to quirky local fiction publications and coffee house poetry slams, and not an example of literary genius. In that sense, 30min spent on one of his short stories gets you the drift of his entire body of work, and that's about as much attention as he deserves.
Rating: 
Summary: Andrew Hurley's translations are a travesty
Review: I regrettably have to concur with the readers from Portland and Panama - as they indicate this collection is a tragedy, as well as a travesty. Here are a couple of examples from my desert island short story, Tlon Uqbar, Orbius Tertius: - Andrew Hurley has: "The mirror troubled the far end of a hallway in a large country house..."
- James E. Irby (in the Penguin Modern Classic edition of Labyrinths) has: "The mirror troubled the depths of a corridor in a country house..." and AH: "... A literal (though also laggardly) reprint..."
JEI: "... a literal but delinquent reprint..." He doesn't seem to have any respect for Borges' style of writing. Really disappointing. And Carlos Fuentes, a notable admirer of Borges, shared this view on reviewing the Hurley edition. Avoid.
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